“Oh, you don’t have to call me Mr. Peyton. I’d like it very much if you just called me ‘Harold’. What would you like me to do as a favour to you?”

“I would like to take a shower and get myself cleaned up,” Whisper asked as her face reddened with embarrassment. “But I would like to drink my hot chocolate first, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course you can my dear,” Harold answered. Harold wondered why he had called Whisper ‘my dear’. After all he didn’t even know this girl yet.

“Did you bring a clean change of clothes to put on after you wash up?”

“Yes, I have some clean clothes in my duffle bag,” Whisper replied.

“I just asked in case you didn’t have a fresh change of clothes with you. I still have all my daughter’s clothes in a closet in her bedroom. You appear to be about the same size as she was and her clothes would probably fit you. Harold’s countenance suddenly looked very pained.

“You said ‘was’ Harold. What happened to your daughter?”

“Today is the first anniversary of Erica’s passing. While getting a ride home from a party her friend’s car was involved in a head on collision. The driver of the other car was inebriated. Erica’s friend suffered severe injuries but survived. Unfortunately, my daughter did not survive the accident. As soon as he finished saying this, Harold Peyton sobbed loudly and his body began to shake uncontrollably.

Episode 7:

“Sit down in your Lazy Boy, Harold. I’ll make myself a hot chocolate. Would you like something to drink too?” Whisper asked.

“Yes, I would like a cup of coffee if you don’t mind making a pot,” Harold replied starting to regain his composure.

“No problem. I see that you’ve got the good stuff, Tim Hortons. It should be ready in a few minutes.”

After setting up and turning on the percolator Whisper returned to the living room.

“I’m very sorry to hear about you losing your daughter. It must be very painful for you.”

Yes, it is, but I should be an old hand at grieving by now. My wife Clarissa divorced me five years ago,” Harold said causing another tear to trickle down his cheek.

“That’s terrible, man. Two major losses in five years! No one should have to suffer that much.”

“I agree, but it happened to me. It is what it is,” Harold said taking out a handkerchief to wipe away his tears.

“But I’ve told you enough for now about my problems. What happened to you out on the street. Who was that guy that pushed you out of his truck?”

“That would be Tony. He’s a real piece of work, man. He pushed me out of his truck after I told him that I wouldn’t have sex with him. Tony just figured that I owed it to him. He called it ‘taking it out in trade’. He said it was only fair because he let me sleep on his couch for a few nights.”

“Why did he drop you off in front of my house?” Harold asked.

“For no particular reason. Tony and I had been having a really wicked fight for about fifteen minutes before he drove the truck down your street. Tony told me that I was giving him a migraine headache when he pushed me out on the road. We were just driving around in circles. I really don’t have any place to go anyway,” Whisper explained.

“Oh, you don’t have to call me Mr. Peyton. I’d like it very much if you just called me Harold. What would you like me to do as a favour to you?”

“I would like to take a shower and get myself cleaned up,” Whisper asked as her face reddened with embarrassment. “But I would like to drink my hot chocolate first if you don’t mind.”

“Of course you can my dear,” Harold answered.

Harold wondered why he had called Whisper my dear. After all he didn’t even know this girl yet.

“Did you bring a clean change of clothes to put on after you wash up?”

“Yes, I have some clean clothes in my duffle bag,” Whisper replied.

“I just asked in case you didn’t have a fresh change of clothes with you. I still have all my daughter’s clothes in a closet in her bedroom. You appear to be about the same size as she was and her clothes would probably fit you. Harold’s countenance suddenly looked very pained.

“You said ‘was’ Harold. What happened to your daughter?”

“Today is the first anniversary of Erica’s passing. While getting a ride home from a party her friend’s car had a head on collision. The driver of the other car was inebriated. Erica’s friend suffered severe injuries but survived. Unfortunately, my daughter did not survive the accident. As soon as he finished saying this, Harold Peyton sobbed loudly and his body began to shake uncontrollably.

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Edith passed away four months after her diagnosis. Lionel was devastated by his loss and fell into a deep depression. His doctor ordered Lionel to take at least six months off work. Lionel’s doctor prescribed the antidepressant, Cymbalta as part of his treatment. He didn’t tell his doctor that he had been turning more and more to Jack Daniels for relief during his time of grief.
When Lionel returned to work after seven months he was still not psychologically ready to assume his regular duties. He received an email from Dean Sanderson asking him to meet him in the dean’s office immediately.
After about a ten minute wait, Dean Sanderson’s secretary, Marjorie Wilkes told Lionel that the dean was ready to see him in his office.
Lionel had been in the dean’s office several times during his time at the university. He always liked the powerful smell of leather that abounded in the dean’s office. This time was different though. He had fond memories of his former visits with Dean Edward Sanderson. Lionel and Dean Sanderson were both in their mid- sixties. Both men had put on weight over the years and would now best be described as stout in appearance.
During his visits with the dean in the past they would often reminisce about the times that they both were lecturers in the Biology Department at the university. Dean Sanderson had always been the more ambitious of the two friends. He became Department Head in his third year and had quickly climbed the academic ladder to administrative positions within the university. The dean had often praised Lionel on the many positive reviews of his teaching performance that he was getting from his students.

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Near the end of July my wife told me that her mother was seriously ill. Once we found out that this was a terminal illness I found myself sinking into a deep depression. It wasn’t long before my mother in law passed away. It was during this time period that I also caught a bronchitis infection. This illness made my depression worse and lasted for about a month. During a majority of this time I was confined to my bed and was missing out on the warm summer weather outside. In this time period I started to experience extreme shifts in my sleeping patterns. I started waking up at 2:00 AM and could not get back to sleep. As it was the middle of the night and my wife was sleeping there wasn’t much that I could do.

I knew that one thing that I could do quietly was to work on my writing. I had been working on a serialized version of my recent novel, The Lake Demon. For some reason I find that I do my best writing in the early hours of the morning. The writing sessions also gave me a diversion and a degree of relief from my grief over the loss of my mother in law. I felt very close to my mother in law. She is a great woman of God and could always see the good both in people and difficult circumstances. We enjoyed several good talks over the phone and I always greatly appreciated the grace and acceptance that she showed toward me.

“Yeah, the old guy hasn’t been himself since his wife passed away,” said Keisha.

“Are you taking any of his classes this year?” asked Jasmine.

“Yes, I’m taking a second year marine biology class with him. Last year I took his introductory course. You wouldn’t believe the difference in him from this year to last year,” said Keisha.

“Yeah, I’m in the same class with Keisha. Professor Phelge has definitely lost his spark. Last year he taught intro biology like a man possessed. He had such energy and passion for his subject. And this year the fire has gone out. He teaches like he’s in a daze most of the time. It’s as if he can’t wait for the class to be over,” said Kyle.

“It sounds like he’s depressed. He’s probably still grieving the loss of his wife,” said Ian.

“So, how is the professor going to be of any use to us in the state that he’s in?” asked Brendon.

“When I first sat down with Dr. Phelge he did seem sad and preoccupied, but when I started telling him about our research project, he perked right up,” answered Ryan.

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Amy Winehouse
Yesterday evening I watched several videos featuring Amy Winehouse. The first DVD was a concert performance by Amy in London the first DVD was a concert performance by Amy in London. On this night Amy appeared to be in top form. If she had been drinking or was taking some illicit substances it wasn’t clear because of the high quality of her performance. I had not seen Amy Winehouse perform live before watching this DVD. During this concert Amy displayed just what a great performer she was. This makes her sudden passing all the more tragic. After I had watched this great concert video, I checked out some YouTube videos on Amy Winehouse. These YouTube videos showed Amy as being either intoxicated or high. She was so inebriated that she could not perform. Her audience retaliated by booing her. They had paid their good hard earned money to see Amy Winehouse give them her best and she showed up in an intoxicated state. One can hardly blame them for being angry. I am now a fan of Amy Winehouse after her passing. I now wish that I had been familiar with her art before she died period.